Cotton bale opening and mixing apparatus



July 7, 1925.

J. T. TICE COTTON BALE QPENING AND MIXING APPARATUS Filed Jilly 28. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Job? 7.7766

INVENTOR ATTORNEY I July 7, 1925. 1,545,367

J. T. TICE COTTON BALE OEENING AND MIXING APPARATUS Filed July 28, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 so I .30

Va E 62 .30

lNVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented July 7, 1925.

COTTON BALE OHENINGIAND l'rIIXINQAPPA'RATUfi' A'pplicatioirfiled July 28-, 192a. Serial No. 728,802

To all w from it 17mg concern:

Be'it known that 1, JOHN T. Tron, acitizen. of the United States, residing at Lagrange,

ill-tile county of Troup and State of Georgia, have invented new and useful Improvementsin Cotton Bale @pening and Mixing, Apparatus, of which the following is a. specification.

One object of my said, invention is the provision of a cottonbale: opening and ing apparatus of such character that there is no danger of fire spreading in the event of a fire starting in the ap-pz atus, and hence such a fire will entail. the amount of; cotton only. I

Another object of the invention isthe 1 pro.- vision of an apparatus which when-properly operated will assure perfect: 21 emetic mixing o'f cotton when different .l ton are fed to the apparatus, tl s b g about a good, running product front the lower. grades of cotton;

To the attainment of the foregoing, the invention consists in,- the improvement as hereinafter described and; definitely claimed.

Im the accompanying drawings, forming part t this specification:-

Figurel is a toppl'an view, partly broken away, illustrating the preferredembodiment of my invention.

Figure 2 is a transversesectiontaken in the plane indicated by the=line2-2 of Fig ure 1.

Figure 3' is a longitudinal vertical section,

taken in2 the plane, indicated by the line 3--3 of Figure 1.

Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding the drawings. Among other, elements my novel apparatus comprises a plurality of: boxes 1 of fire proof material, preferably of steel for the sake of strength and durability. V

I prefer to arrange the boxes 1 after the manner shown in Flgure 1, though they may be arranged in any other appropriate manner without involving departure from the scope of my claimed invention. I would also have it understood that by preference the corners at the bottoms of the boxes and the ends thereof are rounded as brought out in Figure 3.

In the lower portion of each box are arranged belts 2 bearing spikes 3, the said belts being disposed in parallelism and being mounted on drive pulleys or gears 41; and

of a small v parts in' all of the views of,

i 3 on the belts 2 extend to; a. slight extent on idler pulleys or-gears 5,] Figure 8. The drive gears 4 are fixed toshafts 6 while the idler gears are supported by shaft 7.

In the lower portion of, each box 1. is a grating 8. for supporting a bale of cotton, said gratings beingprefenably arranged, as shown in Figure 2. relative to the upper stretchesofr the belts 3.

Assoriated with an eduction opening 9. at the inner end of each. box 1 isa delivery brush 10,, arranged in a, casing 11,, Figure" 3, the several casings 11 being arranged to dis charge into. a hopper 12, and the said hopper 12. being. in; connection with a suction pipe 13,

Atld isa motor, preferably, an electrical motor, thedrive shaft of which is properly connected at 15- with longitudinal shafts. 16, ialed in appropriate bearings 17. V The I shafts mare-provided with miter gears. 18 1.9, the gears; 18- being. meshed with cemplementary gearsQOon the shafts 6, and thegears- 1%) being meshed withcomplementa-ry gears 21; on, the shaftsiofl therotatable delivery bnushes.1O..

At are the doors of the boxes 1, the said doors v being fire-proof and" being by preference crap door-s.

In. the practical; operation of my novel apparatus bales: of cotton are placed in the boxes I with-the narrow sides of the-bales toward the bottom of the boxes. It is within the; purview.- of myinvention; to make the boxes 1% of; any desired depth so that each box, may contain as-many balesof cotton. as

desired; The weight of the bale or bales* of cottonin: each; box 1 is imposed on; the gratings 8, above which the teeth or spikes,

. the cotton from the spiked belts and to, de-

liverthe cotton to, they hopper 12. Gotten. from. the several boxes 1. or other desired quota of said boxes is delivered into the hopper 12 at the same time and at any rate of speed desired to assure a mixing of proper proportion. I Would also have it. understood that it is within the purview of my invention to change and regulate the speed of delivery from any boxl in a group or battery of boxes, and this independently of the deliveries from the remainder of the boxes in the group. For example cotton may be delivered. from ne box at a difien ent rate of speed and consequently in'a volume different from the deliveries from the other boxes. From this it follows that my novel apparatus embodies two means for regulating the proportions of each grade of cotton going into a particular mix.

In the above connection it will be understood that the apparatus can be regulated and the speed changed by changing the beveled gears on the shafts 6.

In the practical use of my novel appara tus, the apparatus is disposed beneath the floor of an opener room and within a basement casing of cement or other fire proof material. The side of the floor above and adjacent to the apparatus is lined with fire proof material, and when desired sprinkler heads may be disposed in the basement above the apparatus.

When the novel apparatus is disposed as stated, destructive fires in the opener roomwill be practically eliminated, inasmuch as only the number of bales necessary for the operation of the apparatus need to be in the opener room at one time. This will. be appreciated as materially advantageous when it is stated that under extant systems of mix ing cotton from ten'to fifty bales of cotton are opened at one time and are exposed to damage by fire before they can be removed. It will also be appreciated that in the operation of my novel apparatus the mixing is effected by mechanical means and the mixture or percentage of any one grade in the total mix will not vary provided the boxes 1 are kept full. The uniform mixture effected by the operation of my novel apparatus renders it feasible to use cheap grades of cotton and yet obtain a good running product for the cards and spinning frames. s

From the suction pipe 13 the cotton passes I through a cleaning trunk (not shown), calculated to remove dirt, leaves and other foreign matter from the cotton'before the delivery of the cotton to a breaker (also not shown).

I prefer to employ trap doors 30 on the boxes 1 for the support of bales placed on the said trap doors, and'when the trap doors are sprung and the bales dropped through the floor of the opening room, the

bales will bring up against the gratings 8 which are made heavy in order to withstand the shock and strain.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the primary purpose of the teeth 3 on the belts 2 is to tear cotton from the bales,

and in this connection I would have it understood that the teeth or spikes may be carried by belts such as 2.

Notwithstanding the practical advantages ascribed to my novel apparatus, it will be noted that the saidapparatus is simple and inexpensive in construction and well adapted to withstand the usage to which cotton handling apparatus is ordinarily subjected.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to-secure by Letters-Patent,

1. A cotton bale opening and cotton mixing apparatus, comprising a hopper, means for conducting cotton therefrom, a battery of boxes of fire-proof material having discharges to said hopper, open-work means in the boxes for supporting bales of cotton therein, means in the boxes for taking cotton from the bales, and means for effecting delivery of cotton from said taking means to said hopper.

2. A cotton bale opening and cotton mixi ng apparatus, comprising a hopper, means ror conducting cotton therefrom, a battery of boxes of fire proof material having discharges to said hopper, open work means in the boxes for supporting bales of cotton therein, means in the boxes for taking cotton from the bales, and means for effecting delivery of cotton from said taking means to said hopper; each of said boxes having fire proof trap doors.

In'testimony whereof I affix my signature.

" JOHN T. TICE. 

